It was the second week of training of the managerial function, there I was accompanied by my three companions from the province. How the situation had changed from the first week.
It was an autumn afternoon, I was just sitting and looking out the window of the AVE I watched as I moved away from my home, family and friends to a destination called Xaudaró that I had heard of but that I had no idea where I was, what it was like... My thoughts were constant recurring questions about what we were going to do, what were my expectations going to be? and it would be served to me in the near or immediate future.
Now it was winter and he was accompanied by three friends, not only traveling companions and with the same course, but a situation had been transformed into something deeper that until you live it you do not quite understand it. Being the same trip, after a very short time, we were already looking for the bar car to make that winter afternoon more enjoyable and where the least was the objective but to tell us what we had done?, how was our family going? and at the end some anecdote or fun of our school, all in an affable, relaxed and calm atmosphere.
We had arrived in Madrid, Puerta de Atocha, and we did not stop going fast in the direction of the cercanías with the intention of not missing the train that would take us quickly to the Ramón y Cajal station. Other friends and colleagues were already waiting for us in Xaudaró for dinner on Sunday night.
We had 5 long days ahead of us, of which three of them we had to do 4 moments of training of two hours each with a break of half an hour in which to make a snack and charge the batteries. The other two days were Wednesday in which we would make the departure through Madrid and on Friday that after lunch we would all get ready to go back to our house.
I want to highlight those moments in which, after two hours of training, all including the formators, we were waiting for a shadow behind the moon of the door, such that soul in sorrow, to our always companions Andreu and Ángel, was the sign that indicated that time had ended. Here there were neither timbres nor music as in my school, but the presence, such as San Marcelino, of our beloved and esteemed couple.
Every day after breakfast, we made a moment of prayer, which more than that is a moment of meeting ourselves and making sense of all the things that we get to do but that many times we do not stop to think because of the terminal speed that we all carry.
At noon, without an established order, but perfectly coordinated, we were taking our dishes and we were about to serve ourselves the food, which was varied and balanced. In fact, many of us made intentions not to overeat so as not to take a few extra pounds.
What to say about the training, both the speakers and the dynamics, try at all times to make it as entertaining and easy to apply. When he finished some contertulio, our friend and colleague from Cádiz but who comes from Valencia, a Crack in the matter of art and simultaneous translation, dedicated a drawing that we were all waiting for. A work of art that offered altruistically to the chosen person. An honor for the one who received it although now it was time to choose the frame that would give credit to such a work.
The long-awaited day of the visit to the center of Madrid from Plaza de Colón arrived with our deputy secretary and great tour guide who made a "dissertation" of the recent history of Madrid along with the monuments, Buen Retiro park and making a stop at the Church of San Jerónimo el Real. Mandatory stop in Puerta del Sol along with group photo and Km0. Then we went to the theater, but we made a stop for those who had problems of protola or simply to hydrate. We were extremely cared for by Andreu and the Vice who were waiting for us at Km0 with great punctuality to go to the Gran Vía theater to see the Gronholm Method Function. Method that I do not know why it seems to be suitable for those of us who have some years in teaching – a matter of emotional instability -.
We ended the evening with a dinner in a tavern near the Theater, where we could laugh and comment on everything and at the end we went to the bus stop that would take us next to Xaudaró.
On the Thursday after the training, we were able to get together, laugh and share a moment of karaoke until the final pickup. It is not my case, but I must say that we have colleagues with OT skills. Of course to say that Bilbao beat Barça and our great friend Garikoitz could not contain himself and throw himself to the ground when he saw the goal that his team made in stoppage time. Something that made us remember the comment that a Marist brother told him in times of youth and that today he remembers with great affection "go now and do not sin anymore".
The next morning, we prepared the suitcases and, after lunch, after finishing the training and the assessment of those almost six days, and waiting for those "generator" emails we got ready at the time of the goodbyes wanting to return to our house, but with a lot of emotion and affection that we left in Madrid
The truth is that you realize how far apart we are by our cities and how close and similar we are.
There have been many formations throughout our lives, but over the years the ones that leave you the most and mark you are the ones that touch your heart. That aspect of the person that we work with our children and young people but that we sometimes forget. That is why when I was asked to describe the formation of the second week of managerial function I did not want to do without something we have all Marists in our DNI and that is to educate and value feelings and emotions.
Grace to this "exciting trip".
Ósacar Vilches Herráez. Colegio Maristes Rubí. Rubí (Barcelona). Prov. L'Hermitage